Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill denied the speculation that the Congress had put on hold the ticket of Mehul Choksi’s lawyer, HS Chandramouli.

The Congress today denied that it had put the candidature of HS Chandramouli, lawyer of Mehul Choksi, on hold, following media reports that said the ruling party in Karnataka had withheld the ticket to the Madikeri seat. HS Chandramouli has also been a State Public Prosecutor for Karnataka.

Congress puts Madikeri seat on hold after reports that the candidate HS Chandramouli had been Mehul Chowksi's lawyer: Sources #KarnatakaElections2018

At a press conference today, Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill reiterated that Chandramouli had no “personal relations” with Mehul Choksi, chairman of the Gitanjali Group, and a co-accused in the PNB scam along with his nephew Nirav Modi.

The BJP had attacked Chandramouli’s candidature, with the party’s IT Cell head Amit Malviya asking why the lawyer was chosen ahead of Brijesh Kalappa, Siddaramaiah’s former legal adviser and party spokesperson.

What is so special about H S Chandramouli, lawyer of Nirav Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi, that Congress gave him a ticket from Madikere while denying one to Brijesh Kalappa, Siddaramaiah's legal advisor and party spokesperson? Rahul's friends over CM's aide? #CongressWithNirav

Madikeri constituency has been a BJP stronghold in the last two state assembly elections in Karnataka. Kalappa questioned Chandramouli's nomination for an assembly seat even though he had lost an MLC election in the past, adding that former party MP Jayaprakash Hegde was denied an MLC ticket after he lost out in a Lok Sabha election.

Meanwhile, the Congress also attacked the BJP for for naming tainted candidates in the second list, which was announced on Monday.

Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the BJP of being corrupt by giving tickets to the likes of Somashekar Reddy, the elder brother of mining baron G Janardhan Reddy. Somashekar was booked for bribing a judge of a special CBI court to get bail for Janardhan Reddy.